


Hold On

by AlexisGreen (thealexmachina)



Series: Loneliness be over [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Slow Burn, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealexmachina/pseuds/AlexisGreen
Summary: Reunions are difficult, especially either side of death.





	Hold On

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt received from RedRavens on Tumblr: "Shakarian, with ‘I am a doctor, so please listen to me.’"

“I’m a doctor, please listen to me.”

That’s how she lures him out of the battery, when almost everyone else has started their sleep cycle. It takes Shepard a couple of tosses in her own bed to realise she can’t sleep without checking in, not when she got so close to losing him.

Bandages cover more than half of his face and a good dose of analgesic swims in his bloodstream, courtesy of the good doctor. Charred shrapnel’s stuck deep into his armour, the explosion nearly claiming him before they’ve even said hello proper.

His good mandible twitches when he sees her coming, an expression somewhere between surprise and relief. Or maybe it’s disbelief, that they meet on Omega, of all places. To her, it’s mere months since she said goodbye to him on the Citadel. To Garrus, it’s been years. Years to think of her as dead. That fact she doesn’t want to dwell on.

Disbelief. That’s it, definitely, slack mandible and side eye, visor back to examining her quietly, like he used to. That she tracked him down, so happy to see him, the same old friends who have each other’s backs. That she’s alive. He hasn’t even questioned her once; perhaps that’s the one good thing about her resurrection, that Garrus Vakarian is once again by her side, unflinching even when wounded.

He lets her take his hand, _holds on_ , as she leads him to her quarters. That disbelief again, relationship evolving before their eyes, friends, sure, but so much more, on a ship of not-quite-allies.

He watches as Shepard rearranges pillows, her bed turning into a turian nest. She insists good rest will help his recovery, but can’t quite keep panic out of her voice when she speaks. It’s that despair that makes him acquiesce. Shepard doesn’t panic, doesn’t beg, but maybe that was the old Commander Shepard, the one who got spaced. Dying has a way of changing perspective, Garrus supposes. It certainly changed his. He goes along with her fussing; he can’t deny it’s soothing to be the centre of her attention. The Garrus that joined the Normandy two years ago would have been cocky about it; Archangel quietly counts his blessings.

“Shepard, just for the record.” Shepard’s pretty certain that mandible twitch is a smile. Heat blooms in her chest at the deep vibrato of his voice in the half darkness. “A first aid course taken five years ago doesn’t make you a doctor.”

She smiles too, lays down beside him, eyes on the ceiling. Her hand finds his and she _holds on_.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always treasured.


End file.
